The Master’s Mask Unveiled Again
Chapter 825 - 824: Boss lady! Boss lady! Boss lady!

Chapter 825: Chapter 824: Boss lady! Boss lady! Boss lady!

MM Ji Restaurant.

At this time, before the rush hour, there were hardly any customers in the restaurant.

Yuren flew to Jinjing yesterday and then rushed back again today.

Right now, Lu Mian, Sui Yuan, and several master chefs were sitting around a booth in the hall, tasting the new dishes of the day.

With everyone spooning and picking with their chopsticks, the atmosphere was remarkably harmonious.

The master chefs knew that Lu Mian and Sui Yuan had taken their high school exams, and they had heard about Lu Mian’s less-than-stellar performance.

Yet they didn’t really care about the results.

Their boss wouldn’t need to walk the path of university; becoming a Michelin-starred chef would surely make him stand above the rest. Plus, with MM Ji Restaurant’s development booming, Boss Lu would never have to worry about living costs for the rest of his life.

However, Boss Lu hadn’t been looking too good recently, so nobody brought up the matter.

When Yuren came back, he found them gathered around tasting dishes, and a wry expression crossed his stern face.

Sui Yuan greeted him.

"Old Yu? You’re back?"

As Yuren walked over, he unbuttoned his suit and wiped the fine sweat from his forehead.

"The Jinjing outlet is almost settled, so I came back early."

"As expected of Old Yu, such efficient work!" Sui Yuan said with a smile in her eyes.

In the presence of close acquaintances, Sui Yuan was a bit more lively.

Yuren gave her a faint smile, his gaze steadfast on Lu Mian, "Mianmian, I’ve heard something interesting."

Lu Mian looked up, rather disinterestedly, "What?"

"I heard that the block where MM Ji is located, was initially seen as a prime commercial area by a Mr. Qi," Yuren said with evident interest.

Lu Mian fell silent, Director Qi, eh?

Quite the coincidence...

A curious master chef from the side asked, "Boss, is Mr. Qi the boss’s wife?"

"Yeah..." said Lu Mian, his fingers holding chopsticks, nodding his head.

A burst of teasing followed from the group.

"Boss’s wife! Boss’s wife! Boss’s wife!"

Lu Mian: ...

Yuren felt he shouldn’t have brought up the matter, finding himself in self-inflicted agony, so he changed the subject.

"Aren’t the high school exam results out today? Have you checked?" he asked.

The master chefs’ gazes shifted immediately to Lu Mian, keenly observing her reaction.

Lu Mian picked up a piece of food expressionlessly, not understanding what the fuss was about with everyone staring.

Just then, Lu Mian’s and Sui Yuan’s phones beeped one after the other.

Placing her chopsticks down, Sui Yuan stuck out her tongue a bit, "It must be Teacher Wan with the results..."

Lu Mian’s text message was probably the same.

Yuren sat down and everyone watched Sui Yuan and Lu Mian: "Who’s checking first?"

Lu Mian’s gaze flickered and settled on Sui Yuan.

Eagerly, Sui Yuan picked up her phone, "I’ll check first."

She had a rough estimate of her score and wasn’t likely to be far off. She opened her phone and saw the screenshot of her results sent by Wan Lin.

"Miss Sui, how many points?"

Sui Yuan showed the screen calmly to everyone, "730."

The master chefs gasped in amazement.

Some, not so familiar with high school exams, asked for clarification, "Is that score good or bad?"

"Out of a total of 750 points, Miss Sui only missed 20 for a perfect score, what do you think?"

"Heavens, she could be the top scholar!"

"Definitely the kind of score that leaves the second placer by a mile!"

Sui Yuan put her phone away with little surprise, and immediately after, another message followed.

Wan Lin: [Ranked second in Wu Province, congratulations Sui Yuan!]

They had used a national test paper for this exam, and while the national rankings were still unclear, within Wu Province, Sui Yuan was a solid second place.

Sui Yuan replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Thank you, Teacher Wan."

I thought the text message exchange was over, but to my surprise, Wan Lin sent another message.

"Congratulations to Lu Mian as well."

Sui Yuan’s eyes lit up, and before she could respond with anything, Wan Lin sent over another screenshot.

It was Lu Mian’s score.

Sui Yuan opened the image and stared at it for a long while, her mouth unwittingly forming an ’O’ shape.

Soon, she joyfully wrapped her arms around Lu Mian’s arm, shaking it as she reported, "Mianmian Mianmian! You’re first!"

First?

Yuren and the master chefs were all puzzled, giving Lu Mian quizzical looks at the same time.

Lu Mian, with her fair fingers pinching a chopstick, carelessly put a piece of celery into her mouth and uttered an "Oh," showing no particular emotion.

Sui Yuan clung to her arm, "Guess how many points you scored?"

Lu Mian’s demeanor was indifferent as she tilted her head and pondered for a moment, "Around 745, I guess."

"745?" The others seemed to have heard it wrong.

Was this the upper limit of their boss’s estimated score?

Lu Mian nodded in confirmation.

Everything else was alright, but when it came to the Chinese essay, she really wasn’t sure.

She could only make the most conservative prediction.

Sui Yuan raised her thumb with a wistful expression and didn’t keep everyone in suspense any longer, saying, "Your total score is 789..."

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

A master chef suddenly burst into hearty laughter, "Boss, you’re not up to the mark, huh? Such a big gap between your estimated and actual scores!"

Another master chef elbowed him, "How can you say she’s not up to the mark? It’s called a conservative estimate for our boss. But boss, you were too conservative..."

"That means our boss is first, Miss Sui is second, haha, the event we held in our restaurant didn’t lose out at all! Not one bit!"

"..." Yuren looked at the master chefs speechlessly, with an exasperated stare.

Someone finally couldn’t hold back and voiced the question that weighed on their soul, "Didn’t they say the total score was only 750?"

Yuren also wanted to know.

Sui Yuan looked at her phone and explained Wan Lin’s text message to everyone.

The restaurant fell quiet for a good while.

Only the soft sound of Lu Mian chewing her food could be heard.

She behaved as if nothing had happened, eating and drinking as usual, as if the person who scored an incredible 789 points was not her.

She had already performed excellently in her own exams, but to think there was an added forty points!

Such a result was extraordinary, anywhere you looked.

"Not to mention, boss, I’ve been wondering why you’ve been unhappy recently?!"

Could it be because the scores were not as good as expected?" said the person, though the idea seemed ridiculous to them.

Even the estimated scores were around 745, so what more could you want?!

Lu Mian paused her chopsticks and looked directly at Sui Yuan.

Sui Yuan didn’t understand why, her head nodding like a pecking chicken, "Yes, Mianmian, everyone in our senior year knew, you came out of the exam room with a gloomy face, saying you hadn’t done well. Even I didn’t dare to ask you anything..."

Little Baldy looked innocently on.

Lu Mian’s gaze grew more wistful, casual yet repetitive like an echo machine, as she spoke.

"Are you going back with your brother?"

The topic changed drastically.

But this was the question that Lu Mian had been asking every day for some time.

Sui Yuan’s mouth hung open, belatedly realizing something.

Mianmian couldn’t be in a bad mood over her situation, could she?

That misunderstanding was a bit big...